It’s Monday lunchtime and gym-goers at Virgin Active in Moorgate, London, are grabbing a bike for their group cycle class. But this isn’t any ordinary class, where the teacher enthusiastically shouts instructions like “sprint” and “climb” and the backdrop is an uninspiring grey wall. This is the “Pack”, a class divided into three teams that compete in a series of interactive challenges while each rider’s bike data is tracked in real-time and projected on to a screen.

“We created the Pack in response to the growing demand for cycle-based classes and technology that tracks workout progress,” says Virgin Active group chief information officer Andy Caddy. “It creates a wholly differentiated group cycle offering.” With Virgin Active rolling out RFID (radio-frequency identification) bands that track members’ workout, the gym chain is designing products with tech at the forefront.

Virtual reality and sport: breaking ground on and off the pitch

Read more

In recent years the fitness industry has embraced technology to create a smarter, data-driven richer experience for the consumer. “Technology has changed the way we plan our fitness activities, the way we work out and the way we measure our results,” says David Walmsley, senior leisure analyst at Mintel. “So as well as giving us online booking systems, new technologies are letting fitness club members see how busy the gym is in real time. Fitness classes are becoming more immersive as operators add a new visual element to the standard music and choreography, and wearables are allowing us to monitor how we perform.” In a nutshell, tech is transforming the fitness experience.

Flexible and convenient exercise

Today, we no longer need to pre-book our classes by phoning the gym. Not only do most gyms allow people to book online or via an app, but thanks to a number of tech startups, we actually no longer need to sign up to a rigid 12-month contract.

Take PayasUgym, which enables consumers to buy short-term passes at gyms nationwide for a discounted price. “We offer a range of different access options including day passes, bundles and multi-site membership that gives people access to thousands of gyms across the country for a single monthly fee and no contract,” says PayasUgym co-founder Jamie Ward. “Like Airbnb, Uber and Laundrapp, we provide customers with a way to find and use services they require on their own terms.”

One of the most recent game-changers has been New York startup ClassPass, which enables fitness fanatics to pay a monthly fee of £110 to access unlimited classes (although only one studio three times) and access 8,000 workout spots worldwide. “Our technology has made it more engaging and seamless to work out, offering unprecedented choice and flexibility,” says Payal Kadakia, co-founder of ClassPass, which has partners in 39 different cities. “To date we have done over 24m reservations.”

Technology has paved the way for a more flexible and convenient workout. Now we can also book a personal trainer through the tap of a button thanks to on-demand fitness app TruBe. “I wanted to make exercise more convenient,” says Daria Kantor, founder of TruBe. “I realised there must be a better way for the consumer and the trainer to connect, one that would save time for busy people like me, and give more work to PTs.”

Keeping track

There’s also been an increase in the number of apps designed to help users count calories and track nutrition. With more than 80 million users, MyFitness Pal is one of the most popular and was acquired by Under Armour for $475m (£380m) earlier this year.

Within gyms, on-demand virtual fitness is on the rise with chain Fitness First offering its members access to more than 250 virtual classes. “We wanted to challenge the norm of conventional group exercise so we introduced interactive and immersive technology in the form of virtual classes on a large screen with ‘live feed’ class cameras allowing members to move in real time with an instructor,” says Fitness First fitness and marketing director Lee Matthews.

In recent years, wearables have marched into the sector, with over 3m wrist-worn wearable devices such as fitness bands and smartwatches estimated to have been sold in the UK last year, up from 1.4m in 2014, according to Mintel. Companies from Microsoft to FitBit have jumped into the sector, launching wearables that help track the user’s performance and also improve their fitness.

Ward, however, questions their long-term viability. “Whilst these devices undoubtedly have huge potential, most are treated as fashion accessories, it will be interesting to see if wearables become essential items in the next five years, or whether they become the equivalent of the exercise bike in the 1980s which everyone owned but mainly used to hang their washing on in the spare room.”

Futuristic workouts

Looking ahead, given the recent surge in virtual reality products, it’s possible that in the future that our gym environment could be transformed by popping on a headset as we cycle or hit the treadmill and selecting an exotic backdrop such as the French Alps or Guatemala.

“The backdrop at the gym isn’t always that motivating but thankfully tech companies are playing around with virtual reality so in the future we can put on a headset, sit on stationary bike and feel like you’re riding through mountains,” says David Minton, director of the Leisure Database Company, a market research firm.

Robot staff and emoji menus: how hospitality went hi-tech

Read more

For Walmsley, the future of tech and fitness is about results and experiences. “The real trick will be to find the right balance between the two,” he says. “We will have more information about our performance and progress than ever before but we will need to be able to train in more stimulating environments to avoid becoming slaves to the stopwatch. You can look at a power meter while you are riding a bike, but you should probably also remember to look at the view.”

Caddy believes we could all have our own personal digital fitness instructor. “Powerful computers crunching large amounts of data to make immediate decisions and recommendations will become part of everyday life and whilst it will be clunky and annoying at first – ‘people who did this also did that’ – it will eventually become more natural and interactive: ‘today’s been a tough day, do you want me to book a yoga session in the morning followed by breakfast at your favourite?’. We see the start of this today with Alexa and Siri, but that’s just the first baby steps towards digital personal assistants for everyone.”

Perfect for those lacking the willpower to drag themselves out of bed and head to the gym, but let’s hope there’s an off button for when we crave a lazy day.

This article was amended on 29 November 2016 to remove an incorrect reference to “spinning class.”